Ohio Breweries by Rick Armon

Blank Slate Brewing Co. in Cincinnati has been given the final approval from the city to open its production brewery.

"Once the final inspector left, everything suddenly became very REAL," brewer and owner Scott LaFollette wrote on his blog. "See, for me, the nuts and bolts of putting the brewery together were the 'easy' (relatively speaking) part. Now I have to deal with marketing and sales and invoices and inventory control and on and on and on."

Blank Slate doesn't have a specific opening date yet, but LaFollette expects to have beer available by American Craft Beer Week, which is May 14-20.

To read LaFollette's entertaining blog about what it's like to open a brewery, click here.